The Aquarium and the Zoo

1 May, 2010

Sydney

Cloudy am, partly cloudy pm, mild

Last year, I left out the Sydney Aquarium. It was always so crowded and noisy that I felt that the students never really got from it what they should. A few of the students went on their own in 2009, and told me that the problem was that we had always gone in the afternoon; the morning was much better. So, this year I decided to give that a try.

They were completely correct! I am so glad they made that suggestion. At 9am this morning, we almost had the entire aquarium to ourselves. No crowds around the crocodile tank or the little penguin display, no mobs clogging the tunnels in the oceanarium tanks. I'll spend the next few days editing my photos, but may put a couple up this evening when I check for student posts on the other blog. So, the Sydney Aquarium is back in the line up.

The afternoon was fine; the Taronga Zoo is always busy, but is set up so well that the crowds are pretty tolerable. The Bird Show runs at 3pm as well, so there's a chance to see it anyway. And the timing on the Saturday ferries works out perfectly, too. The Aquarium at 9am; catch the 10:55 ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay; transfer to the Taronga Zoo Ferry leaving at 11:45, get to the Zoo at 11:57. Students get lunch at the food court at the Zoo, walk the exhibits on Australian wildlife, and end with the Bird Show. We left at 4pm.

Tomorrow, it's the Blue Mountains.

Rainy First Day in Sydney

30 April, 2010

Sydney

Rainy, mild

Welcome to my course journal for the 2010 trip. Here, you will find my personal reflections about the trip as it progresses. For accounts of what the students and I do on the trip and for the photos, video, and other media files we might create, check out either the course blog at ecaustralia10.blogspot.com or our Facebook page Elmira College's Australia Course.

Our plane flight was uneventful, except that it was late enough getting into Sydney that it upset our schedule for the first day a bit. Because I would drift in an out of sleep, I failed to watch several movies: Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, The Men Who Stare at Goats. Their 'on demand' entertainment system did not work -- again! -- so some of the Australian television programs I had wanted the students to watch were unavailable. I think QANTAS should not advertise their on-demand service if they do not intend to maintain it.

As a part of the trip preparation, I tell the students that they should expect that the topic of race will come up in their conversations with Australians, and that they should strive to be simply observant and not overly judgmental of what they hear. I had the chance to practice what I preach during the flight. While stretching my legs, I got into a conversation with an Australian returning from a tour of South America. We chatted very pleasantly for awhile about our families and travels and such, and then she brought up the subject of Aborigines. Sometimes, white Australians will feel that they must educate white people from other countries about 'the Blacks,' that they're lazy and smelly and incapable of reasoning -- after all, they are a Stone Age people. The most common phrase I hear is that "They're like children." (The feeling is mutual. I've had similar conversations with indigenous Australians as well, and they tell me that the elders of yesterday would be reluctant to share the stories of their culture with whites because white people wrer like children -- big children with dangerous toys that they didn't know how to play nice with, but children nonetheless, and not ready to hear the stories intended for men or women.) Anyway, I did what I could to steer the conversation away from race, and eventually we got back onto safer topics.

We did eventually land, clear customs, drop our bags at the Y Hotel, and head off to our first stop. There was a light drizzle as we walked through Hyde Park to the Barracks, but the walk was still pleasant enough, though very quiet -- in fact, the entire city seemed unusually subdued. The food court at the Pitt St. Mall where I had lunch was not nearly as hectic as I've seen it. A little rain does not explain it; I don't think that's ever slowed Sydney down before.

My lunch was beef vindaloo. The young Indian woman who took my order warned me that it was very hot. I guess she heard my accent and figured I didn't know what I was doing. I'm guessing that Indian food is toned down here in Australia as much as it is in the States. It was tasty enough, for a food court meal.

As I was waiting for the students to return to Archibald Fountain after lunch, there was a bride and groom having wedding photos taken. It was very cute, though the wedding photographer, in his enthusiam, followed the couple as they were walking along, leaving his bag full of very expensive equipment unguarded. It was fine; he retrieved it minutes later; I was stuck though by the level of trust he had.

Our tour guide for the Indigenous Australians Exhibit at the Australian Museum was a jolly-angry person. By that, I mean that she was very pleasant and funny, but quite direct in expressing her opinion of the poor relationship between white and indigenous peoples here. She was less charitable than most regarding things like native schools, the Christian missions, the official apology from Kevin Rudd, and the possibilities for imrpoving things between white and black.

(It is Saturday evening as I finish writing this, and I must tell you about an incident in a footie match that is on TV. One of the players dislocated his shoulder during a play. The trainers came out to him, popped the shoulder back in, and then the player continued in the game! What on earth are these folks made of?!?)